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GE's $3,699 Profile Built-In Electric Double Convection Wall Oven offers advanced features that make it stand out from other models in its price range. A strip of red LEDs above the upper oven lets you track how much time is left until your food is finished -- a useful supplement to the standard digital timer. Even better is the remote control and pre-heat capability that comes with's GE Brillion app. None of these extras mean much without strong basic features and impressive cooking performance, but fortunately this oven has those things, too. I strongly recommend this GE double oven if you love to cook large amount of food, and you want a tool for the job that's sophisticated, high-end, and a little bit quirky.

Features One of my favorite features of the PT9550SFSS is that it's compatible with the GE Brillion app. Only select GE wall ovens work with this app, so get excited, smart-home fans. The app allows you to preheat your oven, get alerts when your food is done, and change the oven temperature all from your Android or iOS device. The $1,399 LG smart oven we reviewed comes with an app too, but it isn't nearly as intuitive as GE's.

You can select the oven mode and temperature right from your phone.
Screenshot by Megan Wollerton/CNET

I also really like the red LED status bar situated between the display panel and the upper oven door. It acts as a supplement to the standard digital timer -- as the clock counts down, the LED light bar advances across the face of the oven. It also works as a preheat notifier. When it's preheating, the LED strip pulses and when it's finished, the bar turns solid red. I love this feature, but there's one caveat. The status bar only works for the upper oven. Still, it's a unique addition that might actually make it easier for you to check on your food when you're in the kitchen, but can't quite see the timer. And, if the LED strip annoys you for any reason, you can always disable it.

The red LEDs can track cooking time and preheat status.
Colin West McDonald/CNET

In addition to those unique features, the oven comes with a complement of standards as well. The Upper Oven and Lower Oven buttons located on the top left are pretty self explanatory. Next to that, you'll see the following cooking modes -- convection bake, convection multirack bake, convection broil on high, low, and crisp, convection roast, traditional bake, traditional broil on high and low, proof, and warm modes. There's a Lock Controls button so you can lock the display panel buttons and a Remote Enable button on the left side, too (which you use to connect the oven to the GE Brillion app).

The display screen is located in the center of the oven control panel. That's where you'll see the current time and any other cooking mode and temperature details. The Start button sits on the right side of the display along with Cancel/Off, Timer On/Off, Steam Clean, Self Clean, and oven light buttons for both the upper and lower oven. There's also a numeric keypad, and Cook Time, Set Clock AM/PM, Delay Time AM/PM, and probe buttons.

Steam Clean targets smaller messes and uses a lower temperature to clean during a quick 30-minute cycle. Before starting a Steam Clean cycle, the care manual suggests wiping away any obvious stains and pouring a cup of water into the bottom of the oven. When it's finished, the oven door will unlock automatically. Self Clean works in much the same way, except that it's designed to tackle significant amounts of grease or other heavy stains and takes several hours to complete a cycle. After it's finished, the door will remain locked until the oven cools down.

This oven also boasts 10-pass bake elements, 10-pass dual broil elements, and closed door broiling. That's all pretty standard for ovens these days. The 10-pass heating elements are large enough to spread across an oven cavity. They ensure that your food is as evenly cooked as possible.

You can see a 10-pass dual broil element along the top of the oven.
Colin West McDonald / CNET

It also includes two "self-clean heavy-duty oven racks" for both ovens and one "self-clean roller rack" for the upper oven, all of which can stay in the oven during a self-clean cycle. The upper and lower ovens both have six rack positions so you can make height adjustments as needed. The interior of each oven is outfitted with three halogen lights for better visibility. Yep, it has pretty much everything you'd ever need from an oven.

The Electrolux double oven offers a "Perfect Turkey" button designed for poultry and a "My Favorite" settings option so you can save three of your most-used modes. The display panel design looks interesting, too -- apparently, the entire display panel is "asleep" until you activate it with a single touch. It has seven rack height positions compared with GE's six.

The KitchenAid model has six rack positions like the GE double oven. However, it has 8-pass broil elements rather than GE's 10-pass unit. The Bosch double oven offers a fast preheat option, six rack heights, and a pizza and pie mode. The Whirlpool double oven also comes with six rack positions, but it offers a rapid preheat setting like the Bosch model. I would like to see a fast preheat option in the GE oven. Otherwise, I'm not overly impressed with the features on these other ovens. I definitely think the GE double oven leads in features in its price range.

Design The specific model we tested is finished in stainless steel (PT9550SFSS), but you can also get it in black for $3,499 (PT9550SFBB). It weighs 284 pounds and measures 29.75 inches wide by 52.625 inches tall by 27.1875 inches deep. The cutout dimensions are 28.5 inches wide by 51.8125 inches tall by 23.5 inches deep and the interior dimensions of both ovens is 25 inches wide by 17.375 inches tall by 20.25 inches deep. Your cabinet should be 30 inches wide to accommodate this model.

The upper and lower ovens both offer 5-cubic-foot capacities. That's pretty big for a double oven -- the $4,999 Dacor Renaissance 30-inch Double Wall Oven RO230S we're currently testing has two 4.8-cubic-foo-capacity ovens. The Electrolux EW30EW65GS double oven has 4.2-cubic-foot capacities, the Bosch HBL5650UC double oven has 4.7 cubic-foot capacities, and the KitchenAid KEBS209BSP and Whirlpool WOD93EC0AS double ovens both have 5-cubic-foot capacities like the GE double oven. The GE's display panel is a glass touchscreen. Overall, the oven has a sophisticated, understated design. It won't make much of a statement, but it will blend in nicely with a modern kitchen.

This understated oven will suit many different kitchen styles.
Colin West McDonald/CNET

Usability This oven is pretty easy to use, but the control panel could be better. The display panel looks great, but the organization of the buttons is just plain weird. The upper and lower oven buttons are scattered around in a way that doesn't feel very intuitive and actually makes it harder to interact with the display. It's also difficult to see the clock at certain angles, although the LED progress bar can help here.

I found the GE Brillion app very easy to set up and use. It's available for Android (4.2 Jelly Bean or higher) and iOS (6 or higher) users and is optimized for smartphones, but will work on tablets, too. Simply download the app and follow the instructions to get started. You do have to press the Remote Enable button on your oven before you plan to use the app. That part is a little annoying, but if you can remember to do that when you first put the food in the oven, it won't be a bother. After that, you can monitor or make changes to your oven settings from any Wi-Fi network and remotely via 3G, 4G, or LTE.

In comparison, the LG Smart ThinQ app for the LG LRE3027ST range is only available on your home Wi-Fi and it's incredibly difficult to set up. Even if you do manage to get the app to work initially, it's tough to navigate and you can't actually preheat, cook, or adjust your oven settings remotely.

The symbol in the corner means that the GE Brillion app has been enabled.
Colin West McDonald / CNET

Performance We baked biscuits, roasted whole chickens, broiled ham steaks, and roasted pork tenderloins in this GE double oven. Yes, there has been a lot of delicious food flying around the office lately and yes, I've spent a significant amount of time lurking around the oven so I don't miss anything. A major benefit of my, uh, diligence is that I was able to get a very good sense of how the GE Profile PT9550SFSS performs using different cooking modes, temperatures, times, and recipes.